Magazine Textual Analysis

1. Soap Opera Genre –
Ancillary Product
Analysis
Name: Feargus Bracken
Candidate Number: 4009
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

2. Masthead – Creates
brand identity. Strong
colour of red contrasts
with white, creates
attention. Creates brand
recognition.
Cover Line –
Use of punctuation to attract
attention, most bold
statement connotes it as the
most important storyline.
The red outline connotes a
sense of danger, with the
yellow filling the text causing
it to further stand out.
Main Image – Expression
of characters generates
interest, along with creating
connotations of conflict.
There is a faint outline on
the images, showing they
were edited to make the
expression clearer and to
keep a border between the
character and the
background.
Date – Soap operas show
on a schedule, that is
important as it allows
accurate purchases.
Secondary Cover Story –
Shows sub plots.
Bold text with bold outline
or a background that
contrasts them. When the
colours have gentler focus
and border, the subject
matter is not conflict related.
Typography – Bold
with text outlines
generates attention.
Colours contrast.
Pink is used in the
‘Doctor in love’ to
create a soft
background, connoting
innocence. The other
love related title is
bolded, bordered text.
Barcode – Is present, but
not in traditional corner
location.

3. Masthead – Simple, red and
bold. The letters are not
capitalised, yet still attracts
attention to masthead without
distracting from main image.
Coverline – Bold colours, ellipses
generates confusion and interest. Question
mark connotes multiple possible outcomes.
Secondary Cover
Story - Text is small
enough to fit within
buttons, yet still
attracts attention at
his follows the pattern
of text
Typography – The
typography is bolded with
outline, which attracts
attention and makes the
text more bold and visible to
a reader. The yellow text
attracts attention and has
connotations of importance
and potential danger.
Main Image –
The main image has the antagonist in the centre as a close up, which connotes his importance.
The character he, allegedly, murdered is off the right. Her facial expression connotes fear and
timidity. This creates tension and encourages readers to discover more about the soap opera,
with the way the conventions are utilised to create tension and interest. Location in the
background creates further mystery, but creates a setting. Facial expression is effectively used to
connotes mystery and tension within all images on the front cover, including secondary cover
lines.
Barcode – Not been
removed from
conventionally
normal placement,
yet has been edited
to be smaller.

4. Masthead –
Creates brand
identity,
generates
recognition and
establishes
typography. Cover Line- Attracts
attention by playing
on convention of
soap operas, colour
stands out against
background and has
connotations of
danger.
Price – Indicates
audience type, either
a audience with high
or low disposable
income.
Buttons – Various
images with solo or
double characters
connote the content
of sub plots. Colours
connote the type of
story involved. Pink
for romance/darker
colours for conflict
etc.
Typography - All of the text outside
of cover lines and titles bold and
white with a small black border to
stand out. The punctuation present
connotes a sense of importance,
along with the ellipses to create a
questioning audience.
Main Image –
The main image connotes a
sense of class and significance,
as it is a business suit. In
combination with the
masthead, it generates tension
as the colour black has sombre
and grim connotations and the
masthead is ‘tragedy strikes!’

5. Conclusion
• In conclusion, these magazines are all eye catching due to the images and styles
used. But, there is a lack of cross media convergence, mainly the lack of social
media. All of the magazines feature a colour scheme that relies on clashing colours
to attract attention to features of the magazine. Inside Soap has colours that are
less bright, but still clash. This demonstrates how house themes do not have to be
compromised of bright colours. Inside Soap uses the colours of a dark gold and
dark red to counteract each other. Instead of repeating this feature, I will repeat
the convention that is similar on the two other magazines I studied (What’s On TV,
CBS SOAP) within their mastheads. I will ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale) the bright,
contrasting colours for the masthead. Both mastheads feature a outline which
further makes the text bolder.